Sustainable Design Update

Global environmental issues can seem daunting.  The average American lives a life that is hugely unsustainable.  The prospect of making changes to live more sustainably, can be paralyzing.  Fortunately, Next Generation Energy is here to the rescue.  They have a great article presenting three simple, concrete steps anyone can take to live more sustainably:

Step 1: Consider riding a bicycle or walking when possible…You’ll save money on gas and get some exercise. And when you buy your next car, think about hybrid and other emerging alternatives–which may be easier on your wallet during the current financial crisis. Keep an energy efficient home and make sure it’s well insulated and features efficient utilities. And that also means being a good consumer. Look for smart power strips and yes, those often referenced light bulbs. Remember to unplug your phone charger during the day and turn off your television, lights, and stereos when you leave. Make sure to close the door, both to your home and refrigerator too. And if you can bear it, keep the thermostat below 68 in the winter… another tip which will save some benjamins.

Step 2: Share what you know with friends, family, students, teachers, and community. Encourage others to think about their actions too because the thing about living here on planet earth is that yes, we’re all really in this together.

Step 3: Make sure you VOTE. Let your decisions this election cycle be your voice on energy. Both candidates have answered ScienceDebate2008 and laid out what our energy forecast would look like in their administration. Now it’s up to us to determine who would best lead the way in policy.

-Ben Connor Barrie

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Sustainability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.